Tipping the Scales
by the-curse-of-angelica
Summary: And for some people Revenge can be sweet... until she dumped him. And thus began the amazingly awesome life of Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis, the greatest hero of his generation...sort of (not really). But one can dream right?


Nakamura means middle town. This is the one thing Ethan actually wants to remember from his childhood because it is the only thing at all relevant to Japan that his father willingly told him. The rest he had to figure out for himself.

Apparently Ethan's father Kousei had come over to America with his girlfriend after they graduated high school. Kousei's father was a no good drunk who was constantly in debt and often hit him. Hating the unfairness of the situation, Kousei ran away to the country of justice and liberty. Then of course he met Nemesis who was so completely American with her combat boots, nobody's business attitude, and of course her promises of revenge and balance. Kousei was smitten, and for some people Revenge can be sweet…until she dumped him. Ah, but such is the way with the gods.

Ethan didn't know that side of the story until he was much older. Nemesis left and Kousei married his girlfriend who knew nothing about the situation until several months later when a little bundle of joy showed up on their doorstep with a note attached. It read:

_**Here's your kid Kousei-chan. Have a nice life. ~Nemesis**_

Needless to say Kousei-chan's wife was displeased. Thus began the amazingly awesome life of a demigod…sort of.

Ethan was six when he first realized he was unwanted. You see he had a special gift: with his left eye Ethan could see all of the unfairness, injustice, and lust for revenge in a person's soul. Just by looking at their face. He discovered this gift one day when he was playing with his action figures and his "mom" called him in for dinner.

"Ethan-chan, why don't you put your toys away. It's time to eat."

He continued to play for a few more minutes. Wondering at the silence, he turned around and had a mini heart attack when he saw her standing right behind him.

"Ethan, I said it's time for dinner," she gritted out.

And that's when he saw it. The bitterness and hatred written on her face. Somebody had betrayed her and she silently cried out for justice. But she had smothered it all these years, playing the dutiful wife and loving mother, all the while storing up the hurt in her chest. Ethan could tell though, even if he couldn't make sense of it at that young age, but his eye never lied. "Mama what's wrong?" he pleaded and she unwittingly clenched her fists, "Kaa-chan?"

She flinched as if she had been slapped. "Don't call me that," she whispered before calmly walking back to the kitchen.

Ethan was seven when he first realized he was different. He was playing outside with a little girl from down the street when she asked him something.

"I been wondering. Why don't you look like your mommy and daddy?"

"What? I do look like them! See, I have black hair and so do they."

"Yeah but my mom said they're from that other place…"

"Japan?"

"Yeah and you don't look like you're from there."

Ethan stomped inside. It was bad enough that his mom hated him and his dad never paid attention to him, but now this little brat had the gall to tell him that he didn't even look like his parents. He ran upstairs and looked in his bedroom mirror. The girl was right.

Although he did have glossy, straight black hair like both of his parents, nothing else seemed to match. While they both had brown almond –shaped eyes, his were black and oval. His nose was somewhat sharper, his lips thinner, and when he grinned people said he looked like Chucky whereas his parents had nice, kind smiles.

It was confirmed. If he didn't belong here then he would just have to find a place where he did belong. He briefly wondered if he had been abducted by aliens as a baby and then put back in the wrong house. If that were the case then his real parents could be movie stars or maybe even superheroes! He would just have to find them and explain the situation. He waited until his so called parents were asleep then dumped all his schoolwork out of his backpack and packed it with everything he might need: his legos, action figures, birthday and allowance money, and, as an afterthought, some clean underwear and a toothbrush.

Just as he was about to leave, Ethan realized something. If Mom and Dad were superheroes then villains might be after him. He should probably take a weapon. There was one in a display case in the living room. It was a bronze, western-style sword that glowed faintly in the dark (a souvenir of sorts that Kousei picked up during his little affair). He took it out of the case and without a second glance behind him, left the place he had called his home for good.

Life on the streets is hard for any kid, but if you're a demigod monsters are bound to come after you. Of course, being the child of a minor goddess, the monsters were few and in between for Ethan, but still, he was all alone. The only thing that kept him going most of the time was the thought that if monsters wanted to kill him then he really must be the child of a superhero. With the support of many kind mortals he met along the way, Ethan traveled for three years and eventually found his way to Camp Half-blood, a safe place for people like him… or at least that's what everybody said. He was ten when he learned that his parents were not superheroes. In fact, one of his parents may very well have been one of the two people he left behind. The other was a Greek god.

Even though everyone at Camp was super nice (well except for the Ares cabin and a couple Hermes pranksters) and acted like they understood him, Ethan still felt alone. Nobody there was quite like him. They were all the children of the Olympian Gods and he was as yet unclaimed. Also, nobody else had a cursed left eye like he did. It was awful to see all the unfairness and want for revenge in the world. There was just too much. Ethan didn't know what to do. Even though nobody was mean to him, he felt almost as unwelcome at camp as he had with his mortal family. Wasn't there a place between the two where someone like him could be truly accepted.

About two weeks after arriving, Ethan was sitting alone on the back steps of the Hermes cabin poking the ground with a stick while all the campers sang songs around the campfire. He didn't see the point in singing corny songs and eating smores; not that poking at the dirt was even better, but at least he didn't have to act cheerful.

"Well it looks to me like someone's not a happy camper," remarked a voice coming from right next to Ethan.

He glared in the direction of the voice and saw a mean looking woman with frizzy black hair, a red leather jacket, combat boots, and a whip coiled through her belt loop. "Who the heck are you supposed to be, the Goddess of Bikers?"

"Revenge hon. I'm kinda liking the sass. A little disrespect is good, but go too far and you'll have to take a little in return. That's the way life is: give and take."

He thought about her words for a little bit and then replied, "So the fact that you're here now means you're either going to help me get revenge on those Stoll kids for putting pudding in my shoes the first day or you're my mom."

"I'd stick with the latter if I were you. I always respect a good prank and I don't deal in petty revenge, but rather the overall fairness and justice of things."

"But that means you're the one who made my dad cheat on his wife!" Ethan yelled and then quieted down so the others wouldn't hear him.

She sighed and looked off into the distance. "First of all, they weren't married. Second, little kids shouldn't think stuff like that."

"Still, that's why mama always hated me and looked so sad all the time. How's that fair?" he muttered, "and I'm not a little kid. I've been battling monsters since I was seven."

"The gods don't always abide by their own laws, even the ones they made specifically for themselves. Ever heard of the Big Three Pact?"

"No."

"Well during World War II the three big gods decided never to have any more demigod children. But of course, Zeus just had to have a kid, a daughter in fact."

"Where's she now?" asked Ethan even though his heart wasn't really in the mood for story time.

"You know that tree on the hill. That's her."

"Oh."

"Exactly my point. Those big gods up there; they have no limits. They just take and take and take, without thought for the consequences. It just makes the jobs of minor gods like me harder." Her expression grew dark as she said, "well someday, they're going to be forced to give back and it'll cost them everything."

"What do I have to do with it. Can you tell me?" asked Ethan.

"Well usually heroes are supposed to figure out their own destiny or ask the oracle for guidance, but this is a special case. The quest I want you to go on may take many years and seem hopeless at times, but I believe you may be the only one to do it."

"What is it exactly?"

"Technically I'm not supposed to tell you your destiny so I'm going to need something in return. Hmm…how 'bout your left eye."

"My… eye?" although his curse did cause him a fair amount of grief, Ethan didn't like the idea of losing a part of his body permanently. "Umm, I'll have to think about it."

"Well make your decision quick because I have to leave in oh… a minute."

He desperately needed to know his fate because he was _not_ going to spend the rest of his life here with all these happy naïve people. "Okay, take my eye, but don't think you're getting a happy mother's day card from me next year."

She smirked and held out her hand. Immediately he felt a burning sensation rip through his skull and it cried out in pain, but it was gone in a moment. When he opened his eyes it was as if he was seeing the world through a whole different lens. Not only was his vision distorted from the lack of an eye, but nothing seemed as clear cut as it used to be and he knew instinctively that his gift was gone. He blinked a few times before focusing back in on Nemesis.

"Whew, that's one ugly scar, kid. You ain't getting a girlfriend any time soon," she whistled.

"Thanks, now about my destiny?"

"Right. Ahem!" she stood and pointed at him with a serious expression on her face. "You Ethan Nakamura, son of the great goddess, Nemesis, will become the bridge that lessens the distance between Olympians and lesser gods, gods and their children. The Olympians will be taken down a notch. Demigods will no longer be forgotten and kids like you will no longer have to sleep on the dirty floor of the Hermes cabin."

"And this will happen because of me?" He was just a little skeptical.

" Partially. It'll probably be one of Zeus's kids or something who takes all the credit for it. Your name will very likely not make it into the big books, heck, I'm your mom and I don't even know your middle name. But without you things won't change for the better, I can tell you that."

" But what am I supposed to do? And how? And when? I'm just a kid with a sword who can't even get pudding out of his shoes. I at least need something to go off of."

"Do I look like Apollo, kid? No don't answer that. I don't know, but for starters you could start learning how to fight with only one eye. You could also ditch this, uh, camp. People learn best in the real world and I'm sure you'll learn what to do once you get there. So long kid, try not to land an untimely death. It'll be harder to read people without that eye of yours, so don't get too trusting." And with that said, she vanished.

When all the jolly campers got back to their cabins later that night, Ethan was gone. One of the Hermes campers pointed to an empty spot on the floor and remarked, "Hey wasn't there a kid sleeping there? Evan something or other?"

"Beats me," replied another, "I'm not in charge." Their head counselor was away on a quest, so duties had been shoved around a bit haphazardly and no one thought to keep count of how many people went in and out. The 'missing camper ' became the talk of the next week or so, but was soon forgotten and everyone went on with their lives.

Ethan wasn't sure how much time passed. It might have been centuries for all he cared or even a few days, but in reality roughly two years had passed before he found something or rather someone who pushed him forward towards his destiny. He had spent the days growing accustomed to his new view of the world and learning how to fight even better than before. Survival became harder, not only because he couldn't read people anymore, but also because people weren't as willing to give charity to a twelve year old as to an eight year old. But he managed as best he could, never forgetting about his destiny.

It was the middle of winter, the solstice actually, in his twelvth year, that marked the beginning of beginnings for Ethan. He was in crashing in an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn and decided to take a little day trip into Manhattan to visit the Empire State Building.

Of course he didn't go up to Mount Olympus. That seemed too intimidating. He just stood on the pavement outside and squinted up at the cloudy sky, trying to get a glimpse of the heavenly city from down where the mortals are confined. Had he been paying attention he would have seen a Camp Half-Blood van or two parked next to some meters nearby. But he was too lost in his thoughts.

How come all the big gods got to sit around feasting on ambrosia while the lesser gods and their children had to do all the work here on earth? Why couldn't Nemesis and her children be just as revered? It wasn't as though they were awful at fighting and had nothing to contribute. _It just isn't fair_. This thought struck a painful chord in Ethan. He was his mother's son after all. A voice brought him back to earth.

"Don't you just want to see it burn to the ground sometimes?"

Ethan looked over to see a college-aged boy with blond hair, whose good looks were marred by a crooked scar across his face. His attire was rather non-descript and he had a plain looking backpack slung over his shoulder. Something about that backpack sent chills down Ethan's spine, but he mentally slapped himself, _it's just a backpack, get a grip. _But you could never be sure. Ethan recalled one time when a perfectly harmless looking porta-potty had turned out to be an ogress in disguise. No that had been a weird day. But this boy looked perfectly normal; he didn't look like a terrorist, so what had he meant by his odd statement? "You want…to burn down…the Empire State Building?" Ethan asked incredulously.

"Never mind. I thought you were something else…" he said eyeing Ethan's sword. He turned to leave as if he were in a hurry.

Ethan finally caught on. He called after the boy, "I don't know about burning, but I would like to see the big guys taken down a notch. We half-bloods do all the work while they sit around? The scales need to be evened out."

The boy turned back to him with a grin and held out his hand, "Name's Luke Castellan. And the scales will be tipped drastically if I have anything to do with it. Feel free to join the cause if you feel the same way."

"Oh you must be head of the Hermes cabin." Luke scowled at this. "You weren't there when I was. I'm Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis." He was having a hard time reading the son of Hermes. There was something about him that seemed unstable, but overall he seemed to be exactly what Ethan was looking for. Another person who held the same ideals as he did; someone who could help him with his destiny. "I'll need to figure some things out, but maybe we can work together in the future."

"I'll be seeing you around Ethan. And don't worry, there are others on our side." And with that he left.

To Ethan, meeting Luke was a portent. Something was rising in the near future and he would be a part of it. He and the others who were dissatisfied with the way things were would become the middle ground between two forces of chaos and maybe then the scales would even out. Nemesis would have her day. Ethan thought his name had never seemed more fitting.

**A/N: I decided to go through all my files and tie up some loose ends. I had a lot of unfinished stories from last year and this was one of them. Forgive any discrepancies in the second half, because I haven't read Percy Jackson since last year and I forget a lot of details. On another note, I have some ideas for chapters 8 and 9 of my prank-pulling story so I'll try to have those done by the end of the summer for anyone who's still following it.**


End file.
